The Writing Thief: Using Mentor Texts to Teach the Craft of Writing

Description

It's been said that good writers borrow while great writers steal. Writing thieves read widely, dive deeply into texts, and steal bits and pieces from great texts as models for their own writing. Ruth Culham admits to being a writing thief—and she wants you and your students to become writing thieves, too! A major part of good writing instruction is finding the right mentor texts to share with students. Within this book, you’ll discover more than 90 excellent mentor texts, along with straight-forward activities that incorporate the traits of writing across informational, narrative, and argument modes. Chapters also include brief essays from beloved writing thieves such as Lester Laminack, David L. Harrison, Lisa Yee, Nicola Davies, Ralph Fletcher, Toni Buzzeo, Lola Schaefer, and Kate Messner, detailing the reading that has influenced their own writing. Ruth's renowned easy-going style and friendly tone make this a book you'll turn to again and again as you guide your students to reach their full potential as deep, thoughtful readers and great writers. There's a writing thief in each of us when we learn how to read with a writer's eye! Cover Title Copyright Contents ABOUT THE AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS FOREWORD PROLOGUE What Lies Ahead for Prospective Writing Thieves AUTHOR INSIGHTS: Lester Laminack CHAPTER 1 Time to Rethink the Teaching of Writing Start Here: Stop Doing Dumb Things The Elephant in the Room: The Common Core State Standards Don’t Forget the Importance of Excellent Teachers! The 4Ws of Writing AUTHOR INSIGHTS: Lola Schaefer Educational Shift CHAPTER 2 The Power of Mentor Texts for Writing The Case for Mentor Texts Students Develop Bigger Understandings From Authors, Not Assignments Deep Reading: Linking Reading and Writing Processes My Summer Ritual Traits: The Language of Writers How Getting Granular Yields Better Mentor Text Mining—and More Focused Teaching How Do You Spot a Mentor Text? AUTHOR INSIGHTS: Nicola Davies CHAPTER 3 Informational Writing What Makes Informational Writing Tick? Informational Writing Reveals Big Thinking AUTHOR INSIGHTS: Toni Buzzeo The Traits and Informational Writing Wrapping Up Informational Writing CHAPTER 4 Narrative Writing Fiction and Nonfiction Matters The Power of Narrative Good Writing Tells a Story, Period The Story About Stories AUTHOR INSIGHTS: Ralph Fletcher The Traits and Narrative Writing Wrapping Up Narrative Writing CHAPTER 5 Argument Writing A Developmental Stand for Arguments (Opinions) Getting Started With Argument (Opinion) Writing The Secret Is in the Nudge AUTHOR INSIGHTS: David L. Harrison The Traits and Argument (Opinion) Writing Wrapping Up Argument (Opinion) Writing EPILOGUE AUTHOR INSIGHTS: Lisa Yee Final Thought APPENDIX: Reproducibles REFERENCES Children’s Literature Cited Everyday Texts INDEX A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z